You Lack Knowledge Of Basic Economics – BMO Attacks Peter Obi For Saying Buhari Wasted Loans Obtained By His Government

The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) has accused the Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi of displaying ignorance over his recent comment about loans taken by the Muhammadu Buhari administration.

The organization said Obi just displayed his lack of knowledge about the economy with his comments on the Buhari government.

According to BMO in a statement on Thursday by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke, Obi’s claim that all monies borrowed since 2015 were wasted shows his tendency to play to the gallery with claims that have no basis in fact.

Naija News recalls Obi during his speech at Chatham House in London accused the Buhari government of adding to the nation’s huge debt profile with unnecessary loans and squandering all the funds.

The BMO however replied the LP candidate saying his comments on the economy, and the nation’s debt profile are a public display of ignorance of economic matters.

It added that all the projects the loans taken by the Buhari administration were used for are clearly displayed on the website of the Debt Management Office (DMO).

The group said: “It is shocking that a man who postures as one with an understanding of economics, with spurious statistics, would use the opportunity of a global stage to make an outlandish claim about the country’s debt stock under President Buhari.

“Yes, the Buhari administration has added to the debt he inherited in 2015, yet only the ignorant, or in some cases people with mischievous intentions, would carelessly say that all monies borrowed since 2015 were wasted.

“But because of his penchant for grandstanding, a man who delights in quoting figures from far flung places to make unverifiable points, conveniently forgot that the Debt Management Office (DMO), the agency which manages the country’s debt, has a fact sheet on its website on what the Buhari era debt are used for.”

The group suggested Obi was only trying to be mischievous by condemning the borrowings by the Buhari government and at the same time, justifying the borrowings by the government of other nations.

It urged Nigerians to continue to fact-check Obi’s claims in order not to be misled.

It added: “In one breath, the LP Presidential candidate said there was nothing wrong with borrowing and noted that more developed countries including US and Japan are owing 100 and 230% of their respective GDPs, yet in another breath, he sees a lot wrong with that of Nigeria which is And for the records, most of the loans taken by the Buhari administration are not only tied directly to infrastructural projects including those abandoned by previous administrations, they also do not involve transfer of funds to Nigerian entities.

“The DMO website which Obi and his handlers did not even bother to check has a full list of ongoing road rehabilitation and construction works as well as rail projects and airport expansion being carried out with these loans. We urge them to take a proper look at what is there.

“When they do, they will find that what Obi described as nothing is what the agency termed as ‘projects that have the added benefits of job creation, not only by themselves, but through direct and indirect service providers, a number of which are Small and Medium Enterprises’.

“Let us add here that the same Peter Obi had been quoted on more than one occasion as saying that infrastructure cannot be used to stimulate economic growth, and then went on his usual trajectory of citing Bangladesh and Singapore as examples, when indeed it is widely accepted globally that investment in infrastructure is one of the most effective tools for achieving economic growth and development”.